Color Me Rad - Hartford Style

What a day I had yesterday! I ran my third 5k, in a race called Color Me Rad. It's a race they set up in lots of cities all around the country. In each city they choose a local charity to raise money for. In Hartford, it was for the Greater Hartford YMCA. But that's not the fun part...

Everyone dresses in white, and at 5 stations along the course, they have volunteers throw colored corn starch at the runners, so when you're done, you look like a giant tye-died person. They give everyone a packet of color at the start to throw around too.

So, here's what I looked like at the start of the race

There were multiple "waves" of start times, and this is what the start looked like from the registration line.

This is what I looked like when I was done.

It was tons of fun. I have no idea what my race time was, but I ran for the first time without music. It was so much fun to see all of the other runners. There had to be at least 10,000 people. It was a wild day.

Epic Fail Upcycling Project - Pet Mat

Working with upcycled fabrics, that used to have a former life as something else is one of my favorite ways to sew. The challenge with this, of course, is that it doesn't always work out too well. A lot of the time, I sort of make up the "pattern" as I go along. One of the first "fabrics" I upcycled was a vintage rain coat that had seen better days. It was stained, but it was also this great striped fabric. I made a tote bag with it, and it was the first project I ever blogged about. Kind of like this...

Since then, I've made a bunch of projects using old slickers. I made a fabulous art smock for my daughter, and I made a great lunch bag for myself. With those under my belt, I had this idea to make our cat a "placemat". She's a super sloppy eater, and there's always water and food on the floor when she's done. I have one I bought at Ikea, but I wanted a cool one that I had made. I cut out what would be an applique of her footprints and got to work. And that's where my troubles began. For some reason this jacket had a funky finish on it. When I was trying to sew layers together they literally wouldn't go under the foot...they just STUCK to the plate. The zigzag just would not zig. Or zag. Not. good. Three broken needles and MUCH cursing later, this is as far as I got, and I gave up.

I may try again if I can find another coat without that sticky coating on it. I usually find them at Goodwill for around $5. If I decide to try again, I'll be sure to let you know. What I did manager to do was get half of my rails made for my "Off the Rail" quilt. It's a Jaybird Quilts pattern, and I am using an Anna Griffin "Carmen" fat quarter bundle I got at Sample Spree in Houston the year before last. I had been saving it for something special, and I'm glad I dug into it. It really looks great so far and it's super preppy with all the pink and green.

Last but not least, I ran my second 5k today. It was on flat ground this time. THANK GOD. It was only 3.1 miles (a real 5k) instead of 3.25 miles. And I have to say, I felt like I rocked it. My pace was 10:56, the best pace I've ever ran for the full 5k. And I have this awesome husband who comes to cheer me on and take pictures of me.

That's me to the left in the grey, just about to go over the line in under 34 minutes. Not bad for someone who thought they could never run.

You Can Do Anything You Put Your Mind To

My Nonni told me that a million times. Of course sometimes I believed her and sometimes I didn't. With yesterday's accomplishment, I know now, that she was right. 100%.

I had always said "I can't run." "I can't get the breathing down." "I've tried so many times and I just can't do it." But I have some pretty amazing women that I am proud to call friends who encouraged me, and helped me conquer the "I can't" demon. They had me download the Couch to 5k app for my phone. And for 10 weeks, I worked up from mostly walking, to mostly running, and going a full 3.1 miles.

I suffered through hurting my knees, and four weeks of physical therapy in between. But I kept going. And yesterday, I ran (and sometimes walked) my first 5k race. It was called the "It's finally spring 5k" in Manchester, CT. The first mile was a horrid. Uphill. But after I got through that, the rest felt no so bad.

Here we are at the end of the race. We look happy to be done, don't we?? (Right to left are Nancy, Kari, Sue, Jen and me)



My fantastic husband took the kids and waited with them about 1/4 mile before the finish to cheer me on. It was fantastic and really pushed me to finish. (I'm blowing them thank you kisses)



It felt so wonderful to work that hard to meet a goal, and to have my friends and family there to support me.



May 2012 be a year of firsts for me. After yesterday, I'm feeling like that's pretty likely.